Digital video encoders may use variable bit rate (VBR) encoding. VBR encoding can be performed in real-time or off-line. Real-time VBR encoding will typically have an associated Quality of Service (QoS) that specifies transmission delay, absolute time variation, and information loss. Also, the transmission of real-time video streams is resource-intensive as it requires a large bandwidth. Efficient utilization of bandwidth will increase channel capacity, and therefore, revenues of video service providers will also increase.
VBR encoded video is bursty in nature, and uncontrolled burstiness will lead to inefficient use of bandwidth. To guarantee a QoS level, rate control is essential. VBR encoding can achieve improved coding efficiency by better matching the encoding rate to the video complexity and available bandwidth if the burstiness of the video can be controlled. Therefore, a need exists for a system and method to realize bandwidth savings in variable bit-rate video encoders. Bandwidth savings can increase the channel multiplexing capability while maintaining the video quality desired by the application, or increase the video quality while maintaining the channel throughput.